Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 42: Old Hunter Zhu Danian

Seeing her worried look, he comforted her: "Don't worry, Rongshan knows the importance of this matter, he won't act rashly."

"Let Xiaoya come over to accompany you after dinner tomorrow morning. If I have nothing to do, I'll come over too. There's someone to talk to you."

Ji Wenhe smiled and nodded: "Hey."

……

Shen Rongshan came to Zhaojia Village and went straight to the hunter's house at the end of the village.

Those working in the fields saw him and whispered to each other.

"Isn't this Shen Rongshan from Shenjia Village? He came to ask for a doctor early in the morning. Why is he here with a bow and arrow? Is he here to look for Zhu Danian?"

"It seems so. Zhu Danian is the only family at the end of the village. He asked for a doctor so early in the morning. Is it because his wife is not in good health? Tsk tsk, he finally got his wife, but she is still sick."

"Hey, hey, he's going into the mountains to hunt. I wonder if Zhu Danian will go."

"You were thinking of exchanging meat with others."

"Why, you don't want to? It's been a long time since you last had meat. You'd be kidding if you said you don't want to."

"..."

Every time he walked past someone, the villagers would turn their heads to look over and then whisper to the person next to them.

Shen Rongshan walked steadily and without looking around, and arrived at the last house at the end of the village. Before he even entered, the big black dog in the yard started barking.

"Wang Wang Wang..."

The fence of the yard was not high. An old hunter who was sitting in the yard smoking a pipe saw him coming and looked at the two black dogs in the yard that were wagging their tails wildly with a smile.

"Not yet. They can smell you from a long way off. Look how happily they are wagging their tails."

The old hunter is in his fifties and his face is full of vicissitudes.

Zhu Danian's mother died during childbirth, and his father died unexpectedly a year after he was born.

He had an older sister who was beaten and scolded by her in-laws after she got married. When he found out about this, he went to their house with a stick, intending to teach them a lesson and get them to be nicer to his sister.

During the fight, he accidentally killed someone. His sister was afraid that he would go to jail, so she tried her best to stop the villagers from escaping.

After hiding outside for a month and wanting to go back and take his sister with him, he learned that his sister had hanged herself and asked someone she trusted to give him a message.

'Run away, run as far away as possible, and never return to the village.'

He lived in guilt all these years, hiding everywhere, and finally settled in Zhaojia Village. He never married in his life.

No one in the village knew about his affairs. He told Shen Rongshan these things in person.

"Master, I would like to borrow Dahei and Erhei to go into the mountains for a few days."

He squatted down and touched the two big black dogs that were excitedly crowding into his arms.

Zhu Danian tapped his pipe and said, "Rongshan, I heard from the villagers that you came to see a doctor early in the morning, but something happened to your wife."

"It's not her, it's my brother. He's fine. He will be fine after a few days of rest."

Shen Rongshan stood up and saw that the water in the jar was almost gone. He put down his bow and arrow, picked up the wooden bucket and went to the river to fetch water.

"Rongshan, leave it there. I'll go fight it myself later. You take Dahei and Erhei into the mountains."

"There's no hurry right now."

As he spoke, he picked up the wooden bucket and walked towards the river, filling the water tank with water.

After a while.

Zhu Danian warned: "It's only been spring for a short time, be careful when you go into the mountains, and find a way to go around to your village when you go down the mountain, don't go through our village."

If the villagers see it, they will definitely come forward to exchange things for it. If they disagree, they will make arrangements behind your back.

Shen Rongshan nodded: "I understand, Master. I'm leaving now."

"Hey, let's go."

Two big black dogs followed, wagging their tails.

We went deep into the mountains for several days and hunted big wild animals, whether they were wolves, tiger cicadas, or wild boars. It all depended on our luck. We hunted whatever we came across.

……

"Sister-in-law, Yuanshan has fallen asleep." Shen Wenshan looked at the chicks in the yard digging in the soil and said with a smile, "I'll chop some wild vegetables for them to eat."

"Do they eat wild vegetables?" Ji Wenhe asked.

"They will eat even if they are extremely hungry. There is no rice at home. I will go to the wasteland and catch some insects for them to eat."

There were bugs in the soil, and they dug the dirt all over the yard.

"By the way, Wenshan, our wasteland is empty. Put the chicks there. There are a lot of bugs in the soil."

Shen Wenshan came out of the kitchen with a knife and a chopping board: "Sister-in-law, if there is nothing to stop it, the chicks will run away."

There is one acre of wasteland, and there is tall grass in the wasteland next to it. It is difficult to catch the chicks if they run in.

Ji Wenhe stroked his chin and thought: "Is it too much trouble to put up a fence around the wasteland?"

Shen Suya said, "Sister-in-law, there is one acre of wasteland."

"I want to put the chicks in the wasteland during the day. They eat the insects in the soil, and their feces are just the right nutrients."

"Besides, the wasteland will take a year or two to grow, and we won't be planting anything in it for the time being, so we might as well put the chicks in there."

It’s just that building a fence is a bit of a big project.

Shen Wenshan was chopping vegetables, then stopped and looked at her: "Sister-in-law, tell your brother when he comes back. We will listen to you. There are a lot of branches on the mountain anyway."

The three brothers were together for only two or three days.

Ji Wenhe nodded.

She had previously thought about raising chickens and pigs, so she decided to simply fence off the wasteland and use it to raise small animals.

After one or two years, if the land is cultivated and crops are planted, the harvest will definitely be good.

We immediately decided: "Wenshan, tomorrow we will go to the western hilltop to cut branches and build a fence around the wasteland."

As for Shen Rongshan, I will have a good talk with him when I get back.

As the sun was setting, Shen Suya put away her silk net and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm going home. Catch the chicks and I'll take them back with me so you don't have to make another trip."

"Okay." Ji Wenhe called softly to the inside of the house, "Wenshan, take out two baskets and put the chopped wild vegetables in them."

The chicks need to eat several meals at night, so I prepare some extra food for fear that they will not have enough to eat at night.

The three of them were chasing the chicks in the yard.

Shen Suya pinched her waist and looked at the chicks running around with a smile: "They are so small, but they run quite fast."

Ji Wenhe caught one and held it carefully in his hand: "It will be harder to catch it when it grows bigger."

No matter what animal it is, it is very cute when it is young, but it changes when it grows up.

I couldn't let go of the soft fur on the chicks.

"Xiaoya, go back and tell Aunt Lan that I'll go get the chicks tomorrow morning. Please take care of them at night."

She smiled and waved her hands: "I have two at home to take care of anyway, and I don't need these two anymore, so you can just keep them at my house."

Ji Wenhe joked: "That won't work, what if it becomes yours?"

"Then I'll be so happy. When they lay eggs, I'll sell them at the market and buy meat buns to eat."

Shen Suya walked up to her and whispered softly.

"Sister-in-law, when you and Brother Rongshan go to the market, tell me and bring me some meat buns."

My family didn’t buy any meat for the Chinese New Year, and I haven’t had meat for several months.

Ji Wenhe handed her a basket full of chopped wild vegetables: "Okay, I'll bring them back to you directly. You can buy a few."